


17 (Again?)

by tablelamp



Category: 17 Again (2009)
Genre: Age Regression/De-Aging, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Second Chances
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-25
Updated: 2020-05-23
Packaged: 2021-03-01 04:15:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 4,864
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23289115
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tablelamp/pseuds/tablelamp
Summary: Scarlett O'Donnell is having a tough day.  Then something deeply weird happens.
Kudos: 8





	1. Chapter 1

"So," Scarlett said, pulling out of the school parking lot, "who wants to tell me how their day went first?"

She glanced in the rearview mirror at Maggie and Alex, neither of whom looked interested in discussing their social life with their mother. "Come on. I was in high school once."

Alex sighed. "Practice was okay."

"Yeah?" Scarlett asked. "How's the team this year?"

"Good, I think," Alex said. "I mean, not state champions or anything, but you know. Better than last year."

Maggie snorted with laughter. "Like that's hard."

Alex ignored her. "I got a little practice in too, when I was picking up the basketballs."

"That's good, honey," Scarlett said.

"Are you ever gonna tell Dad you're not really on the team?" Maggie asked.

"Maggie, a scorekeeper's as much a part of the team as anyone else," Scarlett said.

"But Dad thinks he plays," Maggie said.

Alex looked down. "It's not like he comes to the games anyway."

"Your father's very busy at work," Scarlett said. "Someone on his team is getting promoted at the end of the month."

Maggie looked like she wanted to say something about that, but kept it to herself. Scarlett thought it was nice to know that there were some things even Maggie knew it was better not to be snippy about.

"What about you, Maggie?" Scarlett asked. "How was your day?"

Maggie shrugged. "Fine."

It was going to be one of those days, then. "Classes going okay?"

"Fine," Maggie said.

Scarlett didn't know why she bothered. "Anything new and exciting happening at school?"

"Maggie's got a new boyfriend," Alex offered.

Maggie glared at Alex. "Shut up!"

"Is that true?" Scarlett asked.

"He's not my boyfriend," Maggie said. "We're just in the same English class."

"He writes dumb poems," Alex said.

"At least he thinks about things enough to write poems," Maggie snapped. "Unlike some people in this car."

"What's his name?" Scarlett asked.

Maggie looked as though she'd rather discuss anything other than this. "Josh."

"Is he nice?"

Maggie shrugged. "He's fine." She seemed to think of something and smiled. "He liked one of my stories."

Scarlett smiled. "Of course he did. Your stories are great."

Maggie took a moment to decide whether she was going to be embarrassed or happy, and went with happy. "Thanks, Mom."

"You're welcome," Scarlett said, turning into the driveway. "Now, if you get your homework done by dinner, each of you can pick something to watch on TV tonight."

"Alex can pick two things," Maggie said. "TV is boring."

Scarlett bit back a smile, thinking of the things she'd found boring in high school. "That's very generous of you, Maggie."

The kids raced out of the car, and Scarlett followed them into the house.

***

Mike was in a bad mood when he got home from work. That wasn't unusual; Scarlett had noticed it happening more often now that Mike was trying to fight for promotion. She wondered if he was in a better mood when he was at work.

He barely said a word all through dinner, and after dinner, when the kids went into the living room, he stayed sitting at the table as Scarlett gathered dirty dishes.

"Everything okay?" Scarlett asked.

"Fine," Mike said. "I'm just, you know. Trying to be extra helpful at work."

"Well, that's good," Scarlett said encouragingly. "People will appreciate that whether you get promoted or not."

Mike scowled at her. "Don't even joke about that."

"About?"

"Not getting promoted," Mike said. "You don't know what it's like, Scar. Everyone I started with has moved on or moved up. I'm still there with a bunch of young people who are just getting started."

"Can you mentor them?" Scarlett asked.

"I tried that once," Mike said tightly. "He's my boss now."

Scarlett could understand how upsetting that might be. "I'm sorry."

"You just can't get anywhere without a college degree anymore," Mike said.

And there it was--the sore spot Mike could never leave alone, the thing that started so many of their fights. "What do you want me to say?"

Mike looked at her. "A little sympathy might be nice."

"I do have sympathy for you, Mike. I'm just tired of hearing I'm the reason you can't have what you want. You wanted to give up college to be with me. I didn't know you'd blame me for it the rest of our lives."

"I don't blame you," Mike said. "I blame me for being young and stupid and thinking life would be that great forever."

Scarlett had known that Mike thought his life before their marriage had been better, but it still hurt to hear him say it. She fought to keep her voice level. "I guess you'd make different choices now."

"Clearly," Mike said.

Scarlett didn't know whether she was more angry or upset. She hadn't expected to get pregnant so young either, but it had happened, and she'd worked hard to create a life she could be proud of. She'd poured her time and energy into loving and taking care of her family, into keeping her kids safe and healthy, and it _meant_ something to her. And every time Mike regretted the choices that brought him here, Scarlett couldn't help feeling that he regretted everything about what she found most important. He would erase their past in a heartbeat, and it hurt.

"I'm going for a walk," she said quietly. "Could you run the dishwasher please?"

Mike looked warily at the dishwasher. "How do I--?"

"Have Alex show you," Scarlett said.

Mike nodded. This wasn't how Scarlett usually responded to an argument, and maybe he didn't know what to do. Scarlett didn't know either. She just felt like she was going to scream if she was in that house with him for five more minutes.

It took ten minutes before she stopped shaking, and another five before she felt steady enough to cry. She stood there in the middle of the sidewalk, arms wrapped around herself, her back to the neighbors' house so they couldn't see her face.

"Are you okay?"

Scarlett glanced over to see a little girl on a scooter. The girl looked eight, maybe nine years old, and Scarlett didn't recognize her, which was strange. She'd thought she knew everyone in this neighborhood. She wasn't sure whether to feel comforted or horrified that she was having an emotional meltdown in front of a complete stranger. 

"Fine," Scarlett said, wiping her tears away with the heel of her hand. "I'm fine."

The little girl didn't look convinced. "Do you wanna talk about it?"

That made Scarlett laugh. "Thank you, honey. No. I'll be okay."

"It's okay to cry if you're sad about something," the little girl offered. "I do."

The girl's innocent offer of sympathy made Scarlett tear up all over again. "I am sad, but there's nothing anyone can do about it."

"The person who made you sad could do something," the little girl said, reaching down to adjust a lace-trimmed sock.

Scarlett shook her head, sniffling. "It's too late for that. It's too late for a lot of things." She gave the girl a half-hearted shrug, wondering why a child would care so much about what was going on with her. "We don't know how to talk to each other anymore."

"But you did," the little girl said.

"A long time ago." Scarlett definitely wasn't going to get into the details of her relationship with Mike in front of an eight-year-old.

The girl looked thoughtful, and then she reached out and tapped Scarlett on the leg. "Tag. You're it." She turned to go in the opposite direction, speeding away as fast as her scooter could take her.

Scarlett grimaced, looking around for the girl's parents. When she didn't see them, she started to hurry after the girl. "You shouldn't be playing tag. It's getting dark. Your mom and dad will want to know where you are."

"I'm right here," the girl called over her shoulder.

"I know, but they'll worry about you," Scarlett began. She would've said more, but the air in front of her began to look shimmery and strange. She was moving too fast to avoid it, and plunged through the middle of whatever it was, because she had to make sure the little girl was safe.

Wait. Where was the little girl? There was no sign of her in front of Scarlett, and Scarlett couldn't hear the scrape of her scooter wheels anymore. She looked around, but the girl seemed to have vanished, and since Scarlett didn't know her name, she couldn't call her.

Maybe she'd gone home. Maybe she had a shortcut through a hedge or something that put her right in her own backyard, and she liked to get adults to follow her so she could watch their faces when she magically disappeared.

Maybe Scarlett was thinking too hard about this.

She took a deep breath and let it out. At least she'd walked off some of her feelings. She turned back towards the house, towards her real life.

There was no sense worrying about things that couldn't be changed.


	2. Mom Who?

By the time she got back to the house, Scarlett was feeling much calmer and more relaxed than she'd felt when she'd left. That lasted until she got into the living room where Alex and Maggie were watching TV.

"What are you guys watching?" Scarlett asked, glancing at the TV. When no answer was forthcoming, she looked at her kids. They were staring at her. "What?"

They stared at her for what felt like a full minute, until Maggie said hesitantly, "Mom?"

Alex turned his attention to Maggie immediately. "That is _not_ Mom."

Scarlett sighed. Of course an easy evening was too much to ask. "Not funny, Alex."

Maggie glanced at her, then back at Alex. "You've seen the old pictures. It's _Mom._ "

"Yes, it's Mom," Scarlett said, trying not to act as annoyed as she was. "And Mom would like to know what's going on."

Alex kept staring at her. "Oh, that is weird."

Scarlett sighed. "All right. I'll play along. What's weird?"

"You should probably--" Maggie dug in her pocket, took out her phone, and took a picture of Scarlett. Then she handed the phone to Scarlett. "Here."

Scarlett looked at the screen, and the face that looked back at her wasn't hers. Well, it was hers, but it was the face she'd had almost twenty years ago, the face she sometimes still expected to see when she looked in the mirror. "Wow. That's impressive! What did you do, make some kind of de-aging program?" That was cool; she hadn't known phones could do that.

"That's not the phone. That's you," Alex said, looking unusually wide-eyed.

Scarlett laughed, looking at the phone again. It really was an impressive trick. "That's not me. Obviously it was, but--can you show me how you did this?"

Maggie rolled her eyes. "What do you need, a mirror? Are you that old? Fine." She went stomping out of the room and came stomping back in with a makeup compact that Scarlett recognized as her own. "Here."

Scarlett traded Maggie's phone for the compact, opening the compact and seeing...the same young face. She blinked. Her reflection blinked too. "I don't understand."

"Yeah, well, that makes three of us," Alex said, still looking nervous.

She couldn't look like this. How could she look like this? Scarlett closed the compact; looking at her own young face made her feel weird. "I don't think I--" She trailed off, looking at the back of her hand. "The burn."

"What burn?" Maggie asked.

Scarlett looked at Maggie, then at the back of her hand again. "When you were little, the first time I ever heated your milk, I made it too hot. They say to test it by putting a few drops on the back of your hand. I burned my hand. But the scar is gone."

"You didn't like find a monkey's paw or an old lamp or something while you were gone, did you?" Alex asked.

Maggie rolled her eyes again. "Alex, monkeys' paws aren't magic. They're just gross." She looked at Scarlett. "This is really weird though."

"I really look like I looked in the mirror?" Scarlett said. "And the phone?"

"I mean, more than that, Mom," Maggie said. "If your scar's healed, you've like--turned into a teenager."

"Oh," Scarlett said. "Sure. That makes sense." She'd chased a little girl on her scooter, the air had turned all shimmery and weird, and now she was-- "How old do you think I am?"

"Older than me," Alex said. "But maybe not as old as Maggie?"

"How would we know how old you are?" Maggie asked. "You're not a tree. We can't check you for rings."

Scarlett's mind was refusing to make sense of any of this. "Well, what am I going to do?"

And of course, Mike chose that moment to walk into the room. "Hi, kids--oh my God." He stared at Scarlett, and this time Scarlett knew why.

"Hi, honey," she said, trying not to look as freaked out as she was.

"Okay," Mike said, glancing from Scarlett to Maggie and Alex and then back again. "Who's this?"

Maggie sighed heavily. "No one in this family remembers anything. Dad. It's _Mom._ "

"It does look like..." Mike trailed off, frowning. "But, uh--how--?"

"No idea," Scarlett said. It didn't feel right that she had to explain this when she didn't even know what was happening.

"Okay," Mike said. "This is--different."

 _He_ thought it was different? "Yeah. For me too."

Mike's expression cleared. "Ned!"

That didn't clarify anything for Scarlett. "Ned?"

"He's been playing D&D since he was nine. He'll know what's happened," Mike said.

Scarlett stared at Mike. "Your friend who plays roleplaying games will somehow know why I'm--" She gestured to herself. "--this?"

"Well, I'm guessing we're not gonna be able to look up 'turning into a teenager' in the encyclopedia!" Mike said, exasperated.

"Nobody uses encyclopedias anymore, Dad," Maggie said.

"Whatever--the Wikipedia," Mike said.

Scarlett shook her head. "I didn't even want to explain this to you. I definitely don't want to explain it to your friend Ned!"

"There actually is a Wikipedia entry for shapeshifting," Alex said. "Does that help?"

"Shapeshifting," Scarlett said, feeling as though the ground was spinning away from her. "I need to sit down." She plopped onto the couch.

"What does it say?" Mike asked.

Alex shook his head. "Dad, there's like a ridiculous amount of folklore about this. Gimme a minute."

"We don't have a minute," Mike said. "Your mother is--" He gestured to Scarlett. "--this! Now!"

"Nothing bit you out there, did it?" Alex asked. "Like a vampire or a wolf?"

Scarlett glared at Alex. "I'm a teenager, Alex, not a monster."

"Okay," Alex said. "Um, you didn't piss off any Greek or Roman gods?"

"Hey, language!" Mike said. The kids ignored him, and Scarlett wasn't surprised. Mike had apparently never learned that it was better to ask teenagers to do something than to order them to do it, which was funny, considering he looked back on his own teenage years as the best years of his life.

"You think this is a punishment?" Maggie asked.

"What do you think it is?" Alex retorted.

"I don't know, but wouldn't they make her a bug or something if they were punishing her? They wouldn't heal her scars," Maggie said.

Alex shook his head. "Most of this stuff is either punishments or escapes."

"Escapes?" Mike said, his voice very quiet.

"Yeah," Alex said. "Like Daphne gets turned into a tree when she's trying to get away from Apollo."

"Oh," Mike said. "Okay." And he wandered out of the room without another word.

"But you don't have anything to escape from," Maggie said. "Right?"

Scarlett didn't know what to think. If she was going to be like this, she wasn't--couldn't be--married anymore. She couldn't be a mom, not openly. This was what _Mike_ had wanted. Why had it happened to her?

"Mom?" Maggie sounded uncertain enough that it brought Scarlett back to her surroundings. "You didn't--you didn't want to escape from us, did you?"

"Of course not, honey," Scarlett said firmly. "I would never want to escape from either of you." She hugged Maggie, who tolerated it, and then hugged Alex, who smiled at her. "I look different, but I still love you as much as I ever did."

"So," Alex said hesitantly, "what are you going to do?"

Scarlett shook her head. She didn't even know what all the options were. "I have no idea."


	3. The Way Forward

Scarlett couldn't sleep. 

She told herself it was because she was trying to sleep on the couch instead of in her own bed, but she didn't really believe that. She was still trying to come to grips with how her life had changed. What did it mean that she was a teenager? Was she supposed to do something while she was like this? Was it some sort of temporary thing or more permanent? She obviously couldn't control it, because if she could have, she would've changed herself back to normal by now. The only thing she knew for sure was that she couldn't continue what had been, up to now, her normal life. No one would believe that she was Maggie and Alex's mom, and absolutely no one would believe she was Mike's wife. Without those things, who was she?

"Mom?" Alex whispered from the doorway.

Scarlett was relieved to be distracted from her own thoughts. "I'm awake."

Alex tiptoed in and sat on the floor next to the sofa. "Are you okay?"

Ordinarily, Scarlett would've said she was fine, even if she hadn't been fine. That was what moms did--reassured their kids. "I'm not sure."

"It must be weird," Alex said.

"It's very weird," Scarlett said, with an emphatic nod.

"I was thinking," Alex said. "Maybe it's like a second chance? I mean, you kind of didn't get to do much the first time, cause you had us."

"That was my choice, Alex," Scarlett said. "I wanted to have you."

"I know," Alex said, "but maybe like the universe decided there was something you missed. Something you should get to have."

That seemed weirdly plausible. "Like what?"

Alex laughed. "I dunno, Mom. I'm not the universe."

Scarlett laughed too. It felt good to laugh about something.

"What are we talking about?" Maggie asked from the doorway.

Alex shrugged. "I was just saying, maybe this happened for a reason."

Maggie crossed to the couch, sitting on the floor next to Alex. "Okay, what reason?"

"Like I know?" Alex said, sounding a little annoyed.

"Kids," Scarlett said, a note of warning in her voice.

"Sorry," Maggie said. "It just doesn't make sense. I want it to make sense."

"You and me both, kiddo," Scarlett said.

"I mean, what did you miss when you were in high school? We could make a list," Alex said. "Did you go to prom?"

"Junior and senior," Scarlett said, "with your father."

Maggie snorted. "Maybe you should go with someone else."

Scarlett shook her head. "Out of the question. High school students are _children_. I realize I look like one, but I've had forty years of life experience. No. That's not an option."

"It was a joke, Mom," Maggie said, rolling her eyes, "but fine."

"You graduated, right?" Alex said.

Scarlett nodded. "Yeah."

"But you didn't get to go to college," Alex said.

"I wasn't smart enough to go to college, honey," Scarlett said.

"Of course you were," Maggie said, looking indignant. "We're smart enough, and we're your kids. So that means you are."

Scarlett shook her head. "It doesn't matter. I couldn't--"

"Yeah, you couldn't," Alex said, perking up. "But now you can."

"Especially if you don't turn back," Maggie added.

The thought chilled Scarlett. "You don't think I'll turn back?"

"I don't know," Maggie said, "but I think you should probably have a plan in case you don't."

Scarlett shook her head. "My high school transcripts are more than twenty years old. There's no way--"

"Oh, that's not a big deal," Alex said. "I can make them look right."

Something about the nonchalant way he said it set off Scarlett's Mom Alarm. "Oh really?"

Alex seemed to realize what he'd said and fidgeted. "I just do stuff like this for fun, Mom. I'm not forging documents or anything."

"Seriously," Maggie added. "He took a bunch of basketball team photos and made a poster for one of the pep rallies that looked like a yearbook page from the 70s. It was really cool."

Alex looked at Maggie, surprised by the compliment. "Thanks."

Maggie grimaced at the implication that she'd been nice. "Not really cool. It was okay."

Alex nudged her. "Too late. No takebacks."

Maggie rolled her eyes. "Whatever." But she was smiling.

"So if you want to go to college, I can make your transcripts look recent," Alex said. "I wouldn't change anything else, I promise."

"I don't know where you think the money would come from, even if I wanted to go," Scarlett said. "Tuition's expensive."

"I got it," Maggie said. "You're our cousin, right? From Canada."

Scarlett frowned. "But my brother doesn't live in--"

"Wait a minute, Mom. You haven't heard the whole plan," Maggie said. "So you're from Canada and you're on your gap year or whatever, but you're visiting to learn more about American high school. That way you don't have to get any grades or take any tests, but you can still go to classes with us and think about what's interesting to you. So you can figure out what you might want to do next."

Alex nodded thoughtfully. "That's a really good idea."

"Thanks," Maggie said.

That did sound like a good idea. The thought of trying to catch up to Maggie in school after years of not studying anything made Scarlett feel itchy, but being a casual observer of the whole high school thing didn't seem that bad. She hoped she was right and it wouldn't actually be that bad. "And you won't feel weird having your mom with you at school all day?"

"Obviously it'll be weird," Maggie said, "but we can handle it."

"You can spend half your time with each of us, if you want," Alex offered. "Say you're interested in learning what's taught to students in different years. I've got phys ed in the afternoon, so you should maybe come to my classes in the morning? That's Spanish 2, Algebra 2, Art, and English."

"And my afternoon classes are World History, Government, Physics, and English," Maggie said. "So you get two English classes, but we'll be talking about different books." She sighed. "And you can have lunch with me and my friends if you promise not to be embarrassing about it."

"I promise I'll try," Scarlett said. She wasn't completely sure she could pass for a seventeen-year-old, especially among kids of that age. "But won't they suspect something? I don't know how kids talk these days."

"First, don't call them kids," Alex suggested.

Maggie nodded her approval. "Second, that's why you're from Canada. We can just say the slang is different there."

This all seemed very complicated. "Are you sure this is a good idea?" Scarlett asked.

Maggie shrugged. "Got any better ideas?" 

Scarlett shook her head.

"Okay," Alex said, "well, we'll see you in the morning then."

Scarlett nodded. "Goodnight. And thank you."

The kids drifted off in the direction of their rooms. 

Scarlett wasn't any less confused or worried about why this was happening, but at least she knew what she would do next. That was something. Maybe now she could get some sleep.


	4. First Day of School

The kids woke Scarlett when their alarms went off. Maggie even offered Scarlett her choice of clothes from Maggie's closet, because, as Maggie put it, "You can't dress like a mom in high school. Besides, your old clothes probably don't fit very well anymore."

That was true, though it made Scarlett uneasy to think about. She chose the most nondescript, least all-black clothing in Maggie's closet and tried to make herself presentable. What was presentable for high school? She didn't know. Mostly, she hoped nobody would pay attention to her. For her, high school was time to think. She didn't want to be noticed.

"Maybe we can go shopping this weekend," Maggie offered. "I can help you find stuff that's more your style."

"Thanks," Scarlett said. "Just a few things, though. In case this is over soon."

Maggie didn't say anything, but Scarlett thought she knew what Maggie would say. Maggie didn't think this would be over soon. And honestly, Scarlett didn't either.

Mike was sitting at the table checking his phone and drinking coffee when Scarlett entered the kitchen. "What's for breakfast?"

"Whatever you want," Scarlett said, pouring herself a bowl of cereal. "I have to get to school."

That got Mike's attention. "School?"

Scarlett hated the way he could immediately make her feel self-conscious about any choice she'd made. "Why not?"

Mike laughed. "Because in spite of what you look like, you're in your forties, and people in their forties don't go back to high school."

"Well, I am," Scarlett said.

"Good luck remembering geometry," Mike said, taking a sip of his coffee.

Scarlett put the milk away. "I don't know why I expected you to understand." She closed the refrigerator door. "Yes, I do. Because you always talk about what you'd do if you got another chance. I thought you'd know what it meant for me to have one."

"Another chance at what?" Mike asked. "What was so glamorous about your high school experience?"

"Oh," Scarlett said quietly. "Is that what it is?" She was eating standing up because she didn't particularly want to sit at the table with Mike right now. 

Mike got the expression on his face that meant he was worried Scarlett had seen something about him that he didn't want her to see.

"Your high school years were the highlight of your life," Scarlett said. "But you don't think mine were."

"You told me they weren't," Mike said. "You were bored. You couldn't wait till high school was over."

"Right," Scarlett said. "But high school was also the last time I thought I had lots of options about what came next."

That hit Mike hard. "You love the kids."

"Of course I love the kids," Scarlett said. "And I don't regret the choices I made. It's just...exciting that some of the paths I thought I couldn't take are open again. And I want to find out what they are."

"I don't know what that means," Mike said.

"Neither do I," Scarlett said. "Not yet."

"Well, good luck," Mike said, looking awkward. Scarlett couldn't tell if he meant it, but she chose to assume he did. "I don't know if you'll need a parking permit to park at the high school."

"I was thinking about that," Scarlett said, knowing how much Mike was going to hate what she said next. "Could you drive us?"

"Why would I do that?" Mike said. "The school is literally in the opposite direction from my office."

"I know, but if I get pulled over by the police, they'll think my license is a fake ID," Scarlett said.

Mike gave her a withering look. "Do you plan to get pulled over by the police?"

"No one plans that," Scarlett said, "and you know what I mean."

Mike sighed. "Okay, fine. I'll take you to school."

"Sweet. I call the front seat," Alex said.

Maggie was close behind him. "You had it yesterday."

"Yeah, because I called it first," Alex said. "You have to call it."

"Mom!" Maggie said indignantly.

"There's an easy solution to this," Scarlett said calmly. "Neither of you will have the front seat. I will. After today, we'll go on rotation, because your father is going to be driving us to school for the foreseeable future."

"He is?" Maggie said, looking extremely skeptical.

"Apparently I'm the only one whose license still matches his face," Mike said. He took one last swig of his coffee. "Okay, if I'm car pool Dad, everybody in the car."

"You didn't have breakfast," Scarlett said.

"I'll grab something at the office," Mike said. "There's a coffee shop down the street. They have good donuts."

Talking about food reminded Scarlett--she hadn't packed herself a lunch to take, so she'd have to eat lunch at school. She turned to Alex. "What's school lunch like?"

"It's fine," Alex said with a shrug.

"Fine as in edible?" Scarlett asked.

"There's lots of options," Maggie said. "It's not like in the olden days where it was meatloaf and mashed potatoes every day."

"It wasn't every day," Mike objected. Then he shook his head. "Never mind. Last call, everybody in the car who's going to school."

As they headed into the garage, Scarlett began to feel nervous all over again. High school had seemed like a good idea last night, but only today would show whether it actually would be.

She hoped she wasn't walking into something awful.


End file.
